Jury Awards $24M to Widower of Woman Killed in Florida Hotel Cabana

June 29, 2015

A South Florida jury awarded $24 million to a man whose pregnant wife was killed when a drunken driver slammed into a cabana at a Fort Lauderdale hotel.

The decision came more than three years after a car crossed a sidewalk, jumped a curb and plowed into the poolside cabana at the Riverside Hotel. Jurors assigned 15 percent liability – or $3.6 million – to the hotel.

The Sun Sentinel reports Michael DeMella was in a restroom a few feet away when his 26-year-old wife Alanna DeMella died. She was seven months pregnant. The couple had won a trip to Fort Lauderdale from their church in Woburn, Mass.

Jurors assigned 85 percent of the responsibility to 37-year-old Rosa Kim. She was sentenced in January to 15 years in prison.

Topics Florida

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Latest Comments

  • July 2, 2015 at 8:19 am
    Rosenblatt says:
    Thank you KS. That article definitely helped explain why the hotel was found to be partially negligent for this loss.
  • July 1, 2015 at 7:06 pm
    KS says:
    This is a better overview of the accident and the lawsuit against the hotel. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-riverside-hotel-wrongful-death-suit-2... read more
  • July 1, 2015 at 8:36 am
    T Dub says:
    Only in FLA would the court allow the case against the hotel go to a jury. Most other states would have kicked it on summary judgment. FLA courts are banana republic justice t... read more

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